Festival of Swords
by three-days-late
Summary: The Festival of Swords is a beloved holiday in Spades, and the King and Queen would like to celebrate it without meddling Jacks getting in the way.


**I wrote this for a secret santa exchange forever ago but forgot to post it here, so I'm doing that now. It's a cardverse!AU and it's very sappy and you may or may not notice some similarities to certain things in Majora's Mask. Also this is the last of the Hetalia stories that I posted on lj but not anywhere else, for whatever that's worth.**

 **Characters/Pairings: USUK, China, Switzerland, Hong Kong (Leon)**

 **Enjoy.**

* * *

The door slams open, and Yao looks up from his mountain of paperwork to find the Jack of Diamonds glaring at him. Cursing internally, he gives him his most diplomatic smile, puts down his pen, and stands to greet him.

"Jack Vash, we weren't expecting you so soon," he offers him the chair in front of his desk, "To what do I owe the, pleasure of your visit?"

Vash's eyes narrow as he crosses his arms in front of his chest and remains standing, "You know very well why I'm here, Jack Yao. I've requested an audience with your King and Queen, yet it seems not one of your staff can direct me to them. If I didn't know your habits so well I would have been unable to locate you as well. I regret to inform you that your entire palace staff is incompetent."

"You can hardly blame them," Yao stands still, eyes focused on Vash and smile plastered on his face, "We weren't expecting you-"

"I scheduled this meeting months ago!" Vash snaps.

"-And today is the Festival of Swords," he ignores the interruption and continues, "We are all excited for the celebrations."

Vash scoffs and rolls his eyes, "Forgive me if believing a celebration of your 'glorious military past'," he includes air quotes, "is slightly less important than the treaty negotiations that keep the peace between our two Kingdoms."

Yao laughs, high pitched and forced, still smiling, and says, "I know as the foreign and diplomatic adviser to the King of Diamonds you're far too busy to actually know about the cultural heritage of the Kingdoms you are supposed to be advising about, so allow me to clear a few of those misconceptions up for you.

"While the Festival of Swords did originally start as a ceremony of prayer to the Goddess of War for her blessing in the next military campaign, similar to how your Carnival of Pentacles used to be about praying to your bank accounts," Vash's frown deepens as Yao continues, "it has changed over time, especially now during The Peace. Instead of making masks to pray for the Goddess of War's blessing, citizens use the masks to make a wish, which usually is _not_ war or campaign related," he laughs, Vash doesn't.

"Forgive me for not believing that twenty years of peace makes up for one thousand years of constant war, most of it against my homeland."

Yao wants to come back with, _Your actual homeland of Hearts or the one you bought_ , because Vash has always been his least favorite Jack to work with and for some reason he's extra prickly today, but he's a Jack, the King and Queen's most trusted adviser, and he's good at his job and he likes his job. While Vash may not be impressed, twenty years of peace for a Kingdom that, until recently, had been based solely on and around war was an impressive streak, and he'd hate to be the one to end it.

Instead he clears his throat, smiles, and says, "The King, Queen, and I are busy with preparations for the Festival right now. You'll have to forgive us, but we will be unable to have a proper discussion with you and your delegation until tomorrow. Until then, please feel free to enjoy the Festival, or wait quietly in your rooms if that is what you wish."

Vash's glare intensifies as he steps closer to Yao's desk, "Where are the King and Queen? I wish to speak with them."

Yao widens his smile, "They are very busy with Festival preparations and cannot be disturbed."

"I don't mean to disturb them," Vash scowls, "I just wish to know where they are so I can pay them my respects and inform them of my arrival."

"The King and Queen are busy with Festival preparations and cannot be disturbed," Yao smiles, "If you would like, instead-"

"Are they even in the palace?" Vash asks.

Yao is silent for a moment, "The, the King and Queen are-"

"They're at the Festival, aren't they?"

Yao blinks, then smiles even brighter than before, "I assure you I have no idea what you're implying. The King and Queen are-"

"I think I will check out the Festival," Vash says as he makes his way to the door, "And if I happen to run into your King and Queen behaving like children when I do, well, I can assure you my delegation and I will not look kindly on it."

As he leaves, Yao sinks back into his chair with a sigh. He waits a few moments to make sure Vash is gone, before calling in his assistant, Leon.

The King and Queen had requested the day off, and that's exactly what he'd give them

* * *

Arthur waits at the base of the clock tower, pulling his white cloak tighter and fiddling with his orange Sun mask. It was part of a fairly popular set of masks that, along with the Moon mask, are a wish for a long and happy marriage. Usually these masks were exchanged only by couples marrying on the day of the Festival of Swords, but Alfred had insisted that they wear them, despite the fact that the King and Queen were traditionally married on the Summer Solstice. They had worn the masks to the Festival every year.

Arms wrap around him from behind and a kiss is planted on his cheek. Arthur turns to see Alfred grinning at him, orange cloak billowing behind him and a white mask resting on his head, "Darling, we've got to stop meeting like this."

"You've got to stop arranging our meetings like this, love," he pushes his mask up and leans forward to continue kissing Alfred.

So absorbed in each other, neither of them notice a third party until they hear a familiar voice say, "I know you two are really lovey-dovey and all, but you're in public, you know?"

They break apart and turn, finding a young man in a dragon mask standing next to them. "Leon," Arthur nods, "We have the day off."

"What's wrong?" Alfred asks, "Yao said he'd handle everything for today."

"Yeah well," Leon shrugs, "He told me to find you and let you know that the Jack of Diamonds is here, and looking for you, so don't let him find you, or something."

"Aw man," Alfred sighs and leans his head back against the tower, "It's the Festival of Swords! I didn't think he'd actually come."

"They don't celebrate the Festival of Swords in Diamonds," Arthur rolls his eyes and adds an, "Idiot," for good measure.

"Really?" Alfred looks thoughtfully at him, "Huh. No wonder Vash has such a stick up his ass."

"Totally," Leon agrees, "Anyone who's never had Fried Festival Mochi is seriously missing something in their life."

"Honestly," Arthur reaches over and flicks Alfred's ear, causing him to wince, "Why would someone from Diamonds celebrate a Spades holiday?"

Alfred rubs his ear, muttering, "It's a cool holiday."

"Yeah anyway," Leon continues, "Yao said that Vash said that he was gonna go to the Festival and look for you so you need to like, make sure he doesn't find you, you know?"

"Understood," Alfred nods, a look on his face so serious Arthur has to roll his eyes, as he pulls down his mask and grabs Arthur's hand, "Come on, darling. Let's make ourselves scare."

"Like we don't do that every year, love," Arthur lowers his own mask and squeezes his hand.

* * *

Vash should kick himself for failing to realize that a Festival where everyone wears masks would mean that everyone at the Festival is wearing a mask. It certainly has made his self-appointed task of tracking down the King and Queen of Spades much more difficult.

After hours of searching the fairgrounds, he thinks he finally has the correct couple, if only he could catch up with them to prove it. Every time he came close they managed to dodge down an alley or into a shop, and whenever he asked any of the civilians in the area, they all claimed to have no idea who he was talking about and immediately offered to sell him several kinds of fried food, masks, or a lucky panda.

A few minutes to midnight with his frustration building up, Vash finally has them cornered at the base of the clock tower, but the guard refuses to let him pass.

"Sorry, only officials are allowed in the clock tower tonight," she smiles at him, "For the firework show."

"Do you know who I am?" Vash glowers at her, "I am the Jack of Diamonds, and I need access to the clock tower for official Jack business!"

"Yeah, sorry, but no can do," the guard shrugs, "Jack or not, you're not a Festival official, so I can't let you in."

"You let those other two in," he nods at the entryway, "The couple in the orange and white cloaks?"

"Of course!" She grinned, "They're the most official of Festival officials, after all."

"I must speak with them," Vash tries once again to push his way past and fails, "The King and Queen-"

"Oh no. Definitely not, no," the guard shakes her head a little too aggressively, "They definitely weren't the King and Queen, if that's what you were wondering."

Vash raises an eyebrow, "I never said they were."

"Good, because they're not," the guard frowns and nudges him further away from the entryway, "You should go enjoy the Festival while you still can, Sir Jack. The fireworks signal the end of festivities you know."

Vash scowls, but realizes this is a fight he can't win and wanders back to the stalls that are still open. Perhaps he _should_ try one of those fried mochis.

* * *

Alfred and Arthur run up the steps of the clock tower hand in hand. Once they reach the top, they stop, pull of their masks, and take large, gasping breaths between their shared laughter.

"So what do you think, darling," Alfred manages to say as he rests his head on Arthur's shoulder, "Did we lose him?"

"I suppose it would be tricky for him to follow us to the top of the clock tower, yes," he chuckles as he runs his fingers through Alfred's hair, "This has been fun, I haven't dodged a guard like that since our courting days, but I hope this doesn't have ramifications on our dealings with Diamonds."

Alfred snorts, "Are you kidding? Francis loves us," Arthur shoots him a glare that could whither plants, "Well, he loves me, and he loves annoying you, and he loves love, so I think he'd side with us on this one. Lili too, and that'll shut Vash up real quick, so yeah, I think we'll be fine."

"Alright," Arthur wraps his arms around his neck and pulls him close, "I'd hate to have any regrets about today."

"Is that a challenge or a promise?" Alfred leans in close and whispers against his lips.

Arthur smirks and murmurs, "Would you like to find out?" before closing the minuscule distance between them in a searing kiss that had them both seeing fireworks.

* * *

The fireworks are set off with several earsplitting bangs and much fanfare below as the door to the clock tower viewing platform is opened to reveal the King and Queen of Spades in the middle of a heated make out session.

Numerous loud cheers and more than a few catcalls alert them to their new audience, and they step away from each other, both beat red and smiling awkwardly at the crowd below as the firework show finished behind them.

"What as that about regrets?" Alfred whispers as he waves at his subjects.

"Shut your trap. This is your fault, somehow," Arthur snaps back as he waves as well.

"I think they're expecting something from us?"

"Well we did just come out of the clock tower at the end of the Festival. I'd expect something from us too."

"Got any ideas?"

"A speech perhaps," Arthur smiles up at him, "It's all you, my King."

"Fantastic," Alfred steps forward and clears his throat, "Hello Citizens of Spades! I hope everyone enjoyed this year's Festival of Swords!" The crowd goes crazy, cheering and shouting as a few noisemakers are set off as well, "Awesome! I'm glad, well, we're glad you've enjoyed yourselves," he puts an arm around his Queen and pulls him in close.

"We haven't had a chance to join in the festivities, of course, because we've been so busy," everyone shares a laugh at the inside joke, "but we, our hard-working Jack Yao, and the rest of our staff have put in a lot of effort to make this the best Festival of Swords ever! How'd we do?" The crowd loses it again, louder and crazier than before. "That's great to hear!" he shouts once the noise dies down, "We'd like to give an extra special shout out to the Jack of Diamonds and his delegation for visiting us during this celebration," the cheering starts up again, not as loud as before but just as enthusiastic, "It's our wish that this cultural exchange better improve our relations for the future, and help promote this long lasting peace!"

The crowd cheers again as Alfred and Arthur smile and wave, a bit less awkward now as they two step off the platform.

"And save us some Fried Festival Mochi!" Alfred shouts in parting as they make their way back into the tower.

* * *

"It's cute," says the woman who's selling lucky pandas, "They're cute."

"It's unbecoming of royalty," insists the woman making Fried Festival Mochi, "Fraternizing in public like that? With the Diamonds delegation in attendance? What will they think of Spades?"

"Oh please," the young man eating Fried Festival Mochi laughs, "I doubt they thought much of that little display of affection considering some of the things their King gets up to."

"It's sweet," a young woman looking at pandas smiles, "that the King and Queen love each other so much."

"Much better than the last King and Queen," the woman selling the pandas agrees, "Between the heated arguments and the mistresses, you could feel their hatred for each other whenever they were in the same room."

"Still," the man selling masks says, "I know they're in love, but they do have a country to run."

"And they run it 364 days of the year," a man buying masks grunts, "They've earned one day off, and it's not like anyone does much of anything today except eat Mochi and make out in clock towers."

"They work through their anniversary too," the woman making Fried Festival Mochi nudges, "When was the last time you worked through your anniversary, hm?"

"All I'm saying is," the man selling masks insists, "they're still young, and in love."

"Exactly," the young woman looking at pandas sighs, "They're young and in love. They're bound to pull a few stunts like this."

"We're lucky," the young man eating Fried Festival Mochi states, "that so far their stunts have been amusing and not detrimental to the country."

"Give them time," the woman selling pandas laughs at the man selling masks, "I'm sure they'll become a grouchy old King and Queen someday."

"Doubt it," the young woman looking at pandas smiles, "If there is such a thing as true love, it's them."

* * *

"So," Alfred asks later that night when they finally make it to bed, "Great Festival or the greatest Festival?"

"Idiot," Arthur yawns as he looks over several documents in his hands, "We still have to talk to Vash and his delegation about the treaty negotiations tomorrow, and with our stunt tonight he's going to be even more of an ass and-"

Alfred cuts him off with a quick kiss, "Yeah, but that's tomorrow. How was today?"

"It is today, or did you forget that it's two in the morning," Arthur rolls his eyes but leans into Alfred's shoulder, "Great Festival, to answer your question. Your little mess up at the end of the night is keeping it out of greatest."

"Which turned out awesome, by the way. We got so much free Mochi. And when is it suddenly my fault?"

"It's always your fault, love. You should know that by now."

"Hm," Alfred snatches the papers out of Arthur's grasp and sets them on the nightstand, "Let's get some sleep. I don't know if you're aware of this, but we have a meeting with a delegation from Diamonds later today."

"You don't say," Arthur clicks off the light and cuddles up next to his husband.

"Hey," Alfred whispers across the darkness, "Great kiss or the greatest kiss?"

"Hm," Arthur pretends to think about it for a moment, "great kiss."

"Really?" he can hear Alfred pout, "Just great?"

"Yes," Arthur leans forward and drags him into a deep kiss. When they break for air, he says, "Something like that would be greatest."

"Great King or greatest King?" Alfred smirks against his neck.

"Greatest," Arthur sighs and wraps his arms around his head, "But only because you happen to have the greatest Queen by your side."

He's quiet for all of a moment before he whispers again, "Hey, darling?"

Arthur sighs, "What, love?"

He leans over and kisses him once more, "I love you."

"I love you too," he smiles against his lips, "Go to sleep."


End file.
